DURHAM — A four-game winning streak is nice, but Portsmouth High School girls basketball coach Dan Parr knows there is plenty of room for improvement and that was on display in Wednesday night’s opening round game of the Bobcat Invitational Tournament against Hanover at Oyster River High School.

After battling turnovers and poor shooting early, the Clippers found themselves only down by a point in the fourth quarter. However, Portsmouth repeated the mistakes that got it in an early hole and the Marauders finished the game on a 14-2 run to win the matchup of Division II schools, 45-32.

Portsmouth lost its season-opener to Pelham, but last Friday’s 47-37 victory over Pembroke gave the Clippers a 4-1 record heading into the holiday break, while the Marauders were 1-3. The teams will not meet during the regular season.

“I thought it was a repeat of what we’ve done four or five times this year and that is get numerous shots on the glass under the paint and get nothing,” Parr said. “I don’t know what to do about it because we’ve got the shots. We get the rebound, we can’t convert and can’t score.

“Our guards are so concerned about getting it inside to the big kids that they aren’t shooting,” Parr added.

Portsmouth shot 27 percent (7-for-26) from the field and had 16 turnovers in the first half as it trailed 22-14 at halftime.

The Clippers closed to within 26-23 after three quarters following an Allison Dennehy basket, but a pair of free throws by Molly Cornell gave Hanover a 30-23 lead early in the fourth.

The Clippers trailed 31-30 after Abby Salvadore found Dennehy underneath for a hoop, but it would be the last bucket the Clippers would get for nearly four minutes. A Cornell hoop combined with a jump shot from Liesel Robbins extended the Marauders’ lead to seven. Cathleen Beleiveu’s hoop gave Hanover 41-30 lead before Hannah Stevens ended Portsmouth’s drought late in the fourth.

“We played well in spurts, especially being our first game back in about seven or eight days,” Hanover coach Dan O’Rourke said. “Being young, I think we showed a lack of composure, but we were able to settle down. We were able to get a little breathing room and I was proud with how the kids responded to an adverse situation, where the momentum had clearly gone to Portsmouth.”

Portsmouth senior forward Christina Jones said she was happy with how the team played for the majority of the second half, but the first half start was tough to climb out of.

“We hadn’t lost in awhile and I think we didn’t bring it out in the beginning like we should have,” Jones said. “We picked up the intensity a lot in the second half after our halftime talk. We played a lot better in the second half, but we were outplayed in the first half and we just couldn’t get the win.”

Portsmouth continues round-robin play today at 2:30 p.m. when it faces Division II rival St. Thomas Aquinas, while the Marauders play the Saints on Friday.

“(Coach) always tells us that teams come out of holiday tournaments looking better or worse,” Jones said. “We’re trying to practice all of our plays so we can come out as a better team than we came in.”